Ad Bird Petyarre
C: 1936
Region: Utopia, Northern Territory
Language Group: Anmatjarre

Ada Bird paintings are very distinctive and depict her Dreamings and Awelye - Women's Ceremony. Themes include Mountain Devil Lizard, Yam and Emu.

One of the well known Petyarre sisters (Gloria, Kathleen, Jeannie, Myrtle and Voilet, Ada has been painting on canvas since the 1980's and has been collected both in Australia and overseas and in 1997 Ada has one of the finalist in the 14th NATSIAA - Telstra Awards.

However, due to illness Ada rarely paints now.

Alec Baker is a member of Iwantja Arts.

The cushions are a product of cross-cultural and economic exchange between the Anangu Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara Lands in Central Australia and Sringagar, in Kashmir.

Angelina Pwerle (Nangala)
C. 1952
Region: Lyentye, Utopia, NT
Language Group: Alyawerre/Anmatyerre

Angelina Pwerle started painting on canvas in 1988 during the Summer Project held by CAAMA - Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association. She also sculpted animals and figures of people.

Angelina's work in 1993 shows her attention to detail and use of traditional iconography, while her current works are characterised by the concentrated use of dots, which give her works a three dimensional feel.

COLLECTIONS:

Aboriginal Art Musuem, The Netherlands
The National Gallery of Australia

Audrey Morton Kngwarreye was born C1952 and started painting on canvas with her mother - Mary Morton and her sisters Lucky and Sarah in the late 1980's.

Audrey's recent works with the theme 'Alpite' - Flowers portray the amazing skill of the artist.

Her fine detailed work , at times, with a lace like quality, has gained increasing attention.

COLLECTIONS:
National Gallery of Australia
Museum of Victoria; Artbank; Robert Holmes a Court, Perth

B J Timaepatua

Age: 37 years
Skin: Tukaringini
Dance: Shark

Area: Nguiu, Bathurst Island - Tiwi Islands, NT

As a child of the ‘stolen generation’ Barbara Weir was taken from her country, returning in the late 1960's with her 6 children. She re-learnt the languages and her culture and re-established contact with all her family including her mother Minnie Pwerle, auntie, the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye and her Grandfather Quartpot Akemarr.

Barbara Weirs’ exposure to many artists at Utopia in the early 1990’s, in particular Emily Kngwarreye, lead to a profound interest in painting. It wasn’t long before this talented artist gained recognition for her highly experimental works that have evolved from the traditional designs of her early works to abstract, expressive forms.

Themes depict her Dreamings or Tjukurrpa – Grass Seed, Bush Berries, Bush Plum, Wildflowers and the Desert Country of her mother – the late Minnie Pwerle – Atnwengerrp. Included in many backgrounds are abandoned bush camps, forms of women's bodies, creeks, waterholes and other important objects and sites.

She has traveled overseas for exhibitions and is held in high regarded both in Australia and overseas as a highly accomplished artist.

Collections / Exhibition information:

- Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide;
- Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane;
- Artbank; Queensland College of Art Griffith University;
- Ebes Collection- Workum, The Netherlands; University of Adelaide;
- AMP collection.
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Holmes a Court Collection
- Hitachi
- Macquarie Bank

Selected exhibitions:

- Desert Rain Exhibition, Noosa Regional Gallery, Qld
- Flinders Lane Gallery; Melbourne, Vic
- Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane, Qld
- St Louis, USA exhibition;
- Lucerne, Switzerland
- Exhibited in France and Switzerland
- “Dreamings of the Desert” Artist in residence program, Art Gallery of South Australia
- Solo exhibition at DACOU Gallery, Adelaide
- Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
- "Ten Years On”, Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
- Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney, NSW
- 14th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award
- Solo exhibition, Barry Stern Gallery- Sydney
- ARTEXPO New York in association with Mandurah Ltd New York
- 15th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award for 1998
- Art Felchlin- Zurich, Switzerland
- Gallery Griffiouen, Belgium
- Kunsdcentoum Aalst, Belgium
- Frank Popko Gallery, Rees, Germany
- Jack Ellis Exhibition, Seattle, USA

Billy Duncan was born on Inverway Station in the Northern Territory in 1947. He has four children and now resides at Kununurra in Western Australia.

He is of Jaru (desert) skin, however his medium is ochre. He paints the country where he worked as a stockman – Inverway, Nicholson and Mistake Creek Station.

Billy has been painting for approximately 10 years, working in both landscape and dot art pieces. His vast knowledge of country and stories provides an ever lasting inspiration for his works.

As one of the few ochre dot art specialists applying this technique, his works have attracted a great deal of attention and are included in major corporate and private collections.

I was born in Goondiwindi, part of the Bigambul area. My Grandmother Ivy Moggs and her indigenous heritage influenced my work with her strong link to the land and the spiritualism associated with all living things.

As a young boy I heard the stories of the dreamtime from indigenous elders and have used my interpretation in my art work to express my deep longing for the land and all creatures associated with it.

From an early age I was sketching and scribbling on bits of paper, wood and any surface I could draw on. I grew up surrounded by the Australian bush, seeing the colours, the animals, birds, nature at its best and worst. This is evident in my work, which encompasses many aspects of the wide-open spaces and the colour and beauty of the land.

At around 3 years of age I was separated from most of my family and sent to St Josephs Home, Neerkol. It was a catholic orphanage west of Rockhampton. This made me part of the stolen generation, as my grandmother was denied permission to raise me because she was indigenous.

I spent approximately 11 years there and then was sent to Boystown Beaudesert Queensland. I left when I was 16 (still a ward of the state) and continued my journey. This has taken me across some of the remotest parts of Australia traversing the centre, from the east coast to the west and from the north to the south.

I see my artwork as “cross cultural” and use a combination of inks, acrylics and oils. These create the colours of the dreaming to bring depth and life to my art.

In my artwork I am able to find the inner peace and a release from the rigours of the world of today by expressing my heartfelt feelings through my passion for the land and everything associated with it.

Christopher Churchill was born in Derby, Western Australia in 1976 and now resides at Warmun Community, Turkey Creek (Warmun), 200kms south of Kununurra. He is married to Lorraine Daylight, a talented artist from an artistic family – they have four children. Chris is 30 – he is an independent artist, stretches his own canvas and paints from his home or in Kununurra.

Christopher was taught ochre technique by the late Jack Britten. He goes to great lengths to blend the ochre to produce a wonderful range of rich, soft colours that are available from this natural pigment.

Developing his own unique style Christopher’s paintings are inspired by the desert country of his origins and the East Kimberley region of his wife’s country.

His paintings focus on the land, from Purnululu (Bungles Bungles) to the country between Warmun and Kununurra. His subject matter is related to the mapping of country.

Coralie Jenkins Kemarre
Born: 1980
Language Group: Alyawarr

Coralie Kemarre is from Truckies Camp in Alice Springs. Tangentyere Artists represents these artist that live in the 21 town camps around Alice Springs in the Central Desert of Australia.

Tangentyere artists had their first exhibition in March 2006 and are now exhibiting regularly around Australia.

Desmond Pascoe was born in 1972. His artistic career started when he was in his early twenty’s. Common themes are waterlily, various fish like catfish and barramundi as well as turtle.

The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin is made with Stringybark (Eucalyptus tetradonta) and painted with ochre pigment and PVC fixature and decorated with totemic emblems.

“The Lorrkon or bone pole coffin ceremony was the final ceremony in a sequence of mortuary rituals celebrated by the people of Arnhem Land. This ceremony involves the placing of the deceased’s bones into a hollow log which was decorated with painted clan designs and ceremonially placed into the ground where it remained until it slowly decayed over many years.

Collections:

Helen Read Collection, Darwin, NT
Walonia Aboriginal Art, Netherlands

ELIZABETH LEO KEMARRE

Language Group: Alyawarr
Region: Utopia
Themes: Bush Tucker Seeds, Sweet Honey Grevillea, Awelye - Body Paint design

Born in 1953, her artistic career began with a batik dying project supported by CAAMA in the early 1980's.

COLLECTIONS:

The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth

Emily Kame Kngwarreye
c1910 -1996

Region: Utopia, NT
Language Group: Anmatyerre

Recognised as one of the most prominent artists in Australia, Emily first started painting on canvas in her late seventies.

Her first solo exhibition was in 1990.
This highly talented artist soon became highly sort after both national and international.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Australia
National Museum of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Art Galleries of the Northern Territory
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Robert Holmes a Court Collection
Artbank
Donald Kahn Collection, USA
Kelton Foundation, USA
Vatican Collection, Italy

Emily Pwerle 1922
A series of separate lines and symbols overlap until a web of lines and shapes are formed. The colours are explosive and energetic. The patterns represent the designs painted on women\\\'s bodies during bush tucker ceremonies in Atnwengerrp. Her breast designs with their straight lined pattern and beautiful use of colour, are similar but different to those of her older sister. Emily heads towards the linear colourful abstraction that are joyous expression of the love of the land.

Evelyn Pultara
Country: Utopia, NT
Language Group: Anmatyerre

Winner of the 2005 Telstra Art Awards Evelyn started painting in 1997.

Her earlier works depicted traditional themes of bush tucker and Awelye - Women's Ceremony. Her works currently depict her totem - the bush yam.

Galya Pwerle C1930’s

Galya\\\'s work is characterised by a first layer of Awelye (body painting) which she then paints over with fine dotting. The effect is mysterious and moving. She paints the black seed of the grass Portulaca oleracea which for so long sustained her and the other indigenous people of the area.

Genevieve Loy Kemarre is Nancy Petyarre granddaughter and Abie Loy Kemarre's cousin.

Genevieve lives in Utopia, around 300km Northeast of Alice Springs

Gladys Roberts is a member of Kaltjiti Arts from Fregon in South Australia.

Kaltjiti Artists and Kashmir Artisans are working together as part of a Cross-Cultural project to create these beautifully designs textiles and lacquerware with Better World Arts.

Gloria Petyarre’s artistic ability has forged her reputation as one of Australia’s leading Indigenous artists on the contemporary art scene.

Born around 1945 in the Utopia region, which is situated 300 kms north-east of Alice Springs and belonging to the Anmatyerre language group, Gloria’s works impart her knowledge of the environment and sacred traditions that are a part of every day life and convey her relationship with kin and country.

Gloria was one of the original artists who quickly mastered the technique of painting on canvas. Her innovative and individual stylistic designs, used close tonal values of different colors and created a visual intensity.

Gloria continues to develop her paintings to higher levels of abstraction, continually experimenting with line and color. Her artistic expression demonstrates an individual style that is both inventive and bound to forms and structures that underpin the cultural traditions of her desert country.

The works are based on body paint designs used in ceremony and derived from her dreaming stories. Her dreamings include: Mountain Devil Lizard, Emu, Grass Seed, Bean, Pencil Yam, Leaves and Small Brown Grass.

In 1999, Gloria Petyarre was awarded the prestigious Australian landscape prize - The Wynn - presented by The Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney.

Her paintings have featured in exhibitions and collections throughout Australia and the world.

COLLECTIONS:

The National Gallery of Australia
Allen, Allen & Helmsley
Victorian Museum
Museum & Art Galleries of the Northern Territories
Powerhouse Museum
Westpac Collection, New York
Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Robert Holmes a' Court Collection
Adelaide Festival Centre Collection

Gracie Morton Ngale
Country: Mosquito Bore, Utopia, Northern Territory, AUSTRALIA

Language Group: Alyawarr

Gracie Ngale gained recognition with her first works featured in the Robert Holmes a Court collection in 1990.

Born C1956 Gracie Ngale (also sited as Pwerle) depicts the 'Bush Plum Dreaming' .

Born C1940, Greeny Purvis Petyarre is a tribal elder and ceremonial leader. He lives at Boundary Bore which is approximately 280kms from Alice Springs in Central Australia, with his wife Kathleen and 4 daughters, all of whom paint.

He began working as an artist in the mid-80´s. His cousin Gloria Petyarre and aunt Emily Kame Kngwarreye are also renown artists along with his full sister Evelyn Pultura.

Greeny is a very spiritual painter with a great understanding and love for his country. His main Dreamings include ‘Plum Dreaming’ and ‘Yam Dreaming’

Greeny worked with Emily Kngwarreye to create the series ‘ An Enriched Country’. These paintings portray the country they both share, Greeny painting the root systems of bush tucker, while Emily painted the wildflowers that can flourish after a fall of rain.

Easily recognisable for the bright, vibrant colours and distinctive design, paintings reflect the love and connections he has with the land.

Greeny Petyarre paintings, are highly sought after by collectors and galleries throughout the world. He has exhibited throughout Australia and overseas in the Netherlands and France.
Selected collections: Art Gallery of South Australia; Artbank.
(Refs: Aboriginal Artists, dictionary of biographies by Janusz B. Kreczmanski and Margo Birnberg, and online)

Iwana Ken is a member of the Kaltjiti Artists in Fregon, northern South Australia in Anangu-Pitjantjatjara - Yankunytjatjara Lands.

These works are part of a cross-cultural and economic exchange between the Indigenous artists of Australia and Kashmir artisans.

Jeannie Mills Pwerle is the niece of Utopia elder and acclaimed Uptopia artist Greeny Purvis Petyarre and a daughter of a famous Utopian artist Dolly Mills.

Creating her own distinct style, Jeannie’s works are created using even brush strokes, the skilful application of dotting and beautiful colours tones to create an image that conveys a variation of density and visual intrigue. Her works predominately depict the flower and seeds of the “Anaty” Bush Potato/Yam.

Jeannie Mills Pwerle work is represented in collectors in Australia and Europe. Her paintings depict her Dreamings, Anaty (Bush Potato/Yam), Anemangkerr (Bush Melon) and Akarley (Wild Orange).

Joy Petyarre
c 1962
Region: Atneltye (Boundary Bore)
Utopia, NT
Language Group: Eastern Anmatyerre

Joy Petyarre commenced painting in 1980. She depicts in her paintings stories such as the Bush Tobacco Plant and Yam Dreamings.

Her sister, Anna Petyarre is an accomplished artist as was her mother Glory Ngarla.

June was born on Texas Downs Station 1962. She was initially taught painting by one on the best ochre artists – Lena Nyadbi, who like many first generation ochre artists, devoted their life to teaching the next generation, both culture and painting.

June depicts her country which extends over a large region of Kitja land – including Purnululul (Bungles, Bungles) and Doon Doon. Her representation of Kitja Dreaming stories is studied in great detail, travelling extensively to ensure precision and authenticity in her work.

Kunbry Peipei

Region: Mutitjulu community at Ulura, NT
Language Group: Pitjantjatjara

Collected in Museum of Victoria, Melbourne

Born at Areyonga, Kunbry Peipei made craft items for sale to tourists visiting Uluru (Ayers Rock). She utilized the technique of burning designs into wood with a hot poker and used it on many utilitarian objects including bowls, figures of animals, boomerangs and coolamons. She also makes batik, and paints with acrylics on canvas.

Lindsay Bird Mpetyane
C: 1940
Region: Akaye Soakage (Mulga Bore), Utopia, Northern Territory
Language Group: Eastern Anmatyerre

One of the leading male artists from Utopia, Lindsay Bird Mpetyane is a senior law man and depicts theme's of men's law in his paintings.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS:
National Gallery of Australia
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney;
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne;
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane;
Art Gallery of Western Australia;
Holmes a Court;
Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica
USA,
Artbank

1989, Utopia Women's Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project,
1988-89, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney;
1991, The Eighth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
2006 Gallery G “Senior Women of Utopia”
Like many of the first generation artists from Utopia, Mary Morton started in the medium of batik in the early 1980’s. 1989 at exhibition of the first works on canvas of artists from this region was exhibited in Sydney.
Mary is one of the four senior boss women on Utopia. She takes responsibility for painting body designs on young women and sings Awelye (Womens Ceremony) songs. Her country is Andaringya (Atarraringya) on the northern end of Utopia and she has custodial responsibility for the Kurrajong tree seed.

She is married to Billy Petyarre Morton, (Billy Motorbike) a renowned sculptor and they have a large family some of whom also paint.

Collections:

Aboriginal Art Museum, The Netherlands.
Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide.
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin.
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth

The late Minnie Pwerle(pronounced ‘Pula’) was recognised for her extraordinary bold style and colourful palatte. Minnie\'s unique creations on canvas impart her intimate knowledge of country and ceremony, derived from the cultural traditions of her heritage.

Minnie Pwerle’s artistic expression has developed through ceremonial and ritual designs painted on the body. The artists primary Dreamings include \"Awelye-Atnwengerrp\" (Women\'s Dreaming), \"Bush Melon\", and \"Bush Melon Seed\".

Born at Utopia, approximately 300 kms north-east of Alice Springs, Minnie is one of six children and had 7 children, who include artists Barbara Weir and younger sister Betty Mpetyane. Her first solo exhibition was held in Melbourne in 2000 and now she is represented in major private and public collections in Australia and overseas, including national and state galleries.

Mitjili Napurrula (Naparrula)
Born C 1945

Selected Collections:
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
Flinders University Art Museum
Art Gallery of NSW
Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, Darwin

Known for her strong depictions of the trees used to make the spears used for hunting in traditional Aboriginal culture. While her brother - Turkey Tolson painted the spears and was one of the founding members of Papunya Tula Artist . Mitjili married Long Tom Tjapanangka, a prominent artist also, from Haasts Bluff.

Molly Pwerle: 1920
The paintings are characterised by long, straight lines which criss-cross the canvas and resemble loosely woven cloth. The lines symbolise ceremonial dance tracks. The dance tells the story of how in the Dreamtime women danced all day and night. Molly also paints the bush tomato and U-shaped parallel lines which the women paint on another’s chest before they dance.
(Reference: Art of Utopia, Vol 1)

Nellie paints the Dreaming of her father\\\'s and her grandfather\\\'s country which lies to the east of Kintore in the Northern Territory. The specific place of this Dreaming has special significance to the artist.
Nellie was born in 1976 and has learned the dreamings of her family ever since she was a small child.

Ningura Napurrula is one of the Australian artists that can how be seen in the Paris ......


Profile coming soon.

Osmond Kantilla is from the Tiwi Islands off Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The design is the panadas design, created as a limited edition lino print.

Paddy Club Jungala
Region: Utopia
Language: Anmatyerre

Peter Damien Munkara

Polly (Poly) Ngala was born in 1940 into the Anmatyarre tribe, she is the sister of artists Kathleen Ngala and Angeline Pwerle Ngala.

Polly Ngala began her artistic career in batik in the early late 1970s, like many of the women in Utopia, before venturing into painting with acrylic paints on canvas. Polly often assisted her sister Kathleen and also the late Emily Kngwarrey with whom she shared the same country. Together with her sisters, Polly is a senior custodian of the Bush Plum Dreaming.

Polly's depicts the Bush Plum (Arnwekety) and its effects on her country. She often depicts the topography in shades of reds, oranges and yellows reflecting the varying seasonal palette. Also depicted in are designs associated with ‘Awelye’ - Women’s Business and ceremonial law, while others portray personal totems and bush tucker.

Like her sister Kathleen she builds up layer upon layer of colour creating a multi-dimensional effect to reveal the Bush Plum Ankwety - and her country - Alparra in all its glory.

Polly has exhibited widely with exhibitions galleries around Australia and overseas, in France and the UK.

References to her work can be found in: Brody, A., 1989, Utopia Women's Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings, Perth. (C) ; Brody, A., 1990, Utopia: a Picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth. (C); Aboriginal Artists Dictionary of Biographies - Central Desert, Western Desert & Kimberley Region, written by Janusz B.Kreczmanski & Margo Birnberg

Collections:

The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth;
1988 Aboriginal "Dot" Painting, Melbourne;
1992 Modern Art - Ancient Icon, The World Bank, Washington, USA

Ronnie Price Mpetyane
c. 1938 - 2006
Region: Lyentye (Mosquito Bore), Utopia
Language Group: Anmatyerre

Ronne Price commenced painting in 1989 and his art is characterised by the use ob vibrant and vivid colours. Ronnie depicted in his paintings men's ceremonial life, Kangaroo and Bronzewing Pigeon Dreaming.

Ronnie Price was the husband of prominent artist Gloria Petyarre and an ordained pastor.

Sarah Morton Kngwarreye
Born: C1960
Utopia, NT
Language Group: Eastern Anmatyerre

Sarah Kngwarreye and Angelina Kngwarreye are co-wives of the late Louis Pwerle . Sarah's sister Audrey and Lucky are both fine artists, with collections in the National and regional galleries.

Sarah paintings depict her Dreaming, the bush flowers, the Rainbow and she also is known for her works with sister Lucky on - The Bristish Invasion Series.

Artist: Steven Bird Jungala

Country: Akaye Soakage, Utopia
NorthernTerritory AUSTRALIA
Language Group: Anmatyerre

Steven Bird paints bold traditional designs in the same style as his close relative and prominent artist - Lindsay Bird Mpetyane.

Steven has learnt to paint these designs as part of the teachings associated with his totem and relationships to kin and country.

Tanya Corby
Born July 1961
Region: Mt Leibig
Language Group: Luritja

Teresa was born in 1964, her mother is Barbara Weir and her grandmother is Minnie Pwerle.
Coming from a highly artistic family background, Teresa has her own unique style depicting her relationship to country and everything within.
Teresa started to paint 14 years ago but due to her many commitments as Vice-Chairman of the Amperlatwatye Council she has had limited time to devote to her artwork.
Teresa lives at Atnwengerrp on the Utopia homelands with her family.
Her works are exhibited around Australia.

Tjinkum Wells

Ernabella Pukatja is the APY Lands which spans a large region of country - in South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

A respected elder in her community, she has six children and four grand children. Passing on traditional knowledge about culture and country.

She teaches Pitjantjatjara and English at the Ernabella school and

Topsy comes from the Papunya region west of Alice Springs. Her language is Luritja and she was born in 1956.

Walangkura Napanangka is a prominent Western Desert artist. Her highly collectable pieces symbolise the great tradition of the Western Desert art movement.

Walangkura has exhibited widely and is in major collections, both in Australia and overseas.